RYA P750 Thundercat British Championship 2015 – The story so far…

Rounds One and Two of the 2015 RYA P750 ThunderCat British Championship were held at Boscombe Beach in Dorset over the weekend of the 18 - 19 April attracting an impressive 20 boat field.

Round 1 - Multispark Grand Prix Boscombe

The racing on Saturday (18 April) was difficult due to the swirling winds and sea swell, by the time of the final heat, both Julius and Will Gawn driving Team 33 and Tapp in Microlink / Ahmad Tea had both won their three heats. 

Microlink / Ahmad Tea started like a rocket, leaving Team 33 in their wake and led for the first couple of laps until they turned over, causing a red flag and a re-start.    

Once racing commenced, newcomers to the sport Rob Davies and Darren Phillips – Hoonigan / Ahmad Tea surprised everyone with a stellar performance, outpacing Team 33 and those points were enough to ensure the rookies a Round One second place overall. Julius' second placing in the final ensured him the overall victory on the day.    

The Haggis Hunters, not surprisingly from Scotland, David and Ashleigh Finlayson, capped off their day with a very worthy third place on the podium.     

Amber Sexton racing with Phil Hillier in her first ever ThunderCat race took 4th overall in Kingfisher Fire & Security.    

She said afterwards: “I was apprehensive with the big water we experienced today, and fourth is a great result for the team, particularly as I was meant to be racing with Andy Cousins, who sadly had a family bereavement”.    

It was then time to celebrate the winners on the beach podium presentation where the prizes were awarded by Formula Renault 3.5 Series racing driver Dean Stoneman.    

Round 2

Sunday (19 April) dawned with glorious sun shine, the winds of Saturday had dropped, leaving a residual swell for the competitors to contend with.    

Once the four heats were raced, James Tapp / Ed Redman - Microlink / Ahmad Tea had a 100% win rate, with Bligh Julius taking three wins and a second.      

Come the final and Tapp was not up to repeating the error of Round One, he positively scorched around the M - Shape circuit completing an excellent day in his inflatable office. Bligh Julius drove Team 33 to second overall and left the event knowing he leads the British Championship after the opening two rounds by seven points.    

Former ZapCat racers, Steve Pidsley and Jason Ellis - Who The Hell / Team Moku Racing, experienced a torrid Round One, which they made up for with an impressive third overall on the Sunday.    

Next it was on to Watergate Bay, Cornwall for Rounds Three and Four (09-10 May) for the first of the year’s ‘surf events’.    

Round 3

 An ever increasing entry into the series included a good few rookie teams who found the going tough and even the most experienced of competitors made a few errors in the four foot surf.    

South African Sean Fisher, the 2013 ThunderCat World Champion was making his début appearance for Team Bobkat – Moku Racing, returning with no loss of form, only the ejection of his co-driver in heat three robbed him of a 100% win rate going into the final.      

James Tapp, Microlink / Ahmad Tea also went into the final with three heat wins, with Fisher the driver to relegate him to runner-up in the final heat of the day.    

Team 33 were missing their 2014 British Champion driver Bligh Julius, Jack Weller was drafted in to race with Charlie Hatfield and impressed with a very consistent four second places in the heats.    

Hoonigan / Ahmad Tea showed how quick they could be in the previous rounds at Boscombe and continued to improve into the final. Welshman Simon Harding was starting to dial 51 Racing in to the surf conditions.

Due to late running of the heats, it was decided to run the much anticipated final on the Sunday Morning, which, with the tide much closer to the spectators looked like a master stroke.    

The Round Three final was an absolute cracker, with Sean Fisher leading Microlink / Amad Tea home, although it wasn’t enough to stop James Tapp taking the round overall, due to Fisher’s zero point score in heat three.    

The new crew combination in Team 33 completed the podium line up, very pleased indeed with their third place.    

Round 4

Straight after the Round Three final the competitors got straight down to fighting for Round Four honours, with some tough racing from the previous day, a few crew changes had to be made with certain injuries preventing some racing.    

The most notable change was that Demelza Johns was now the co-driver for the current World Champion Sean Fisher and she was to enjoy her first heat wins in ThunderCat Racing with the Surf Master and the other story of the day was meteoric rise in form of Simon Harding’s Team 51.    

With weather conditions still extremely tricky, the final was cancelled and the decision was made to award the overall Round Four positions from the heat results.    

Team 51’s Ocean Racing prepared engine powered it through to the overall win, Demelza Johns was to claim her first ever ThunderCat Racing podium with second place in Team Bobkat – Moku Racing, while James Tapp kept his championship challenge on course with a third.    

The racers now have a few weeks for the bruises to heel, the bumps to go down before they return to Cornwall for Rounds Five and Six at Fistral Beach on the 30 -31 May.    

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Images credit: Tim Tapping

26/5/2015 10:08